When you log into a website that offers two-factor authentication, you need to enter an additional password or PIN in order to fully log on. This extra password can be sent to your mobile device, generated by a designated app, or even by a special device. Since you must have these two passwords to log in, it’s much harder for someone else to break into your account.

With security issues on the rise and due to the increasing amount of sensitive information stored online, more and more services are starting to offer 2FA. You can go through Tina’s articleWhat Is Two-Factor Authentication, And Why You Should Use ItWhat Is Two-Factor Authentication, And Why You Should Use ItTwo-factor authentication (2FA) is a security method that requires two different ways of proving your identity. It is commonly used in everyday life. For example paying with a credit card not only requires the card,...Read More if you’re not sure why you should use it or where, but in general, if you use a service to store sensitive information, and it offers two-factor authentication, you should probably enable it. Read on to find out if the services you’re using offer this option.

Note that many banks offer 2FA these days. We can’t list them all, but if you do a lot of online banking, find out if your bank offers this service.

Google

For many, Google and Gmail are almost synonyms, but 2FA is an option for any service you use under your Google account. Setting it up is really easy; when enabling it from the 2FA setting page, you can choose to receive the additional code by text message or voice call. You can also download the Google Authenticator app to generate codes on your Android, iPhone, Blackberry or Windows Phone device. This app can come in handy for other services as well.

If you don’t want to enter the extra code every time you log into Gmail, you can specify computers you trust, in which case you won’t have to enter the extra code. Read more about setting up 2FA for your Google account here.

Note that in order for this feature to work, you need to add a mobile phone number to your Facebook account, and also let Facebook remember your computer and browser. It will only ask for the extra password when it detects an attempted login from a new computer or device. Read more about enabling this feature here.

After it’s set up, you will need to use your mobile device to generate an extra code when you log into your LastPass vault from an untrusted device. You can read more about setting up 2FA for LastPass here.

WordPress

If you’re worried about someone taking over your blog, why not give it the ultimate protection by enabling 2FA? In WordPress, 2FA can be enabled on a per-user basis, so if the blog has several users, you can enable it only for some, or only for the administrator.

WordPress also makes use of Google Authenticator (told you it would come in handy!), and you’ll have to install a WordPress plugin in order to enable it. Read more about it here.

Yahoo!

While not as popular as it used to be, many users still sport a Yahoo! account, and even use it for email. This is good enough reason to want to protect it, and Yahoo! does offer a 2FA feature, of sorts. It’s called Second Sign-In Verification, and will only ask for an extra password if you’re trying to log in from an untrusted computer.

You can enable this feature in your Account Information, and choose if you want to receive the code by text message or email (a different email, obviously). It’s pretty old fashioned, but it’s better than nothing.

Amazon Web Services

Although you can’t set up 2FA for your regular Amazon account, it is available if you use Web services such as S3. It supports Google Authenticator, and there’s not much to do in terms of setup. You can find out just a bit more about it here.

Notable Absentees: Microsoft

Surprisingly, Microsoft doesn’t really offer 2FA for most of its services. According to this forum thread, some service such as Xbox Live and SkyDrive do offer some form of it, but it’s only by text message or to an alternate email. It’s worth mentioning, though, that Microsoft had recently acquired PhoneFactor, a two-factor authentication app, so it might have something planned in that regard.

Your Turn

These are only some popular services that offer two-factor authentication; there are probably many smaller one that offer this feature. This is where you come in. If you know of or use a website that offers two-factor authentication, tell us about it in the comments. Help us turn this post into a much bigger and more useful list for everyone!

I use Two-Factor Authentication across a lot of my accounts. I feel a lot more secure when I can telesign into my account. If you have that option available to you use it, it is worth the time and effort to have the confidence that your account won't get hacked and your sites are not up for grabs. If you opt into 2FA, you will have to "Confirm your phone". You would receive a text message with a specific code to be entered into the system. If you don't want to do this every single time, you can designate your smartphone, PC, or tablet as a trusted device and they will allow you to telesign in without the text code. Should an attempt to login from an unrecognized device happen, it would not be allowed.

I'm happy to see all the advances to security for online accounts. I'm using Google's two-factor authentication. I've been reluctant to expand my two factor to other accounts only because it can be annoying and a pain in the butt, though that is the point of it right? I should just take the plunge.

I agree. It's a bit of work involved if you have to disable the 2FA account then reenable it. It's times like that when you curse the whole system under your breath.

But then I remind myself that it is deliberately meant to be this difficult to deter any would-be hackers. So it's good that there is so much hassle involved. If it was easy, then it wouldn't be much of a deterrent.

Microsoft's acquisition of PhoneFactor is definitely a hint of Microsoft introducing multiple factor authentication to its services. The only doubt in my mind is that this authentication could be only for enterprise clients or paid services and not for free services like outlook.com or even Microsoft account itself ..